Hazardous substance removing method, hazardous substance removing material used therein such as air filter, mask, wipe sheet, and the like, and storage method thereof

ABSTRACT

A hazardous substance ( 20 ) is removed by using a hazardous substance removing material ( 10 ) in which a support ( 11 ) supports an antibody ( 12 ). Humidity of the ambient atmosphere of the antibody ( 12 ) is controlled so that the antibody ( 12 ) becomes active.

This application is a Divisional of co-pending application Ser. No.10/544,393 filed on Aug. 3, 2005 and for which priority is claimed under35 U.S.C. § 120. Application No. 10/544,393 is the national phase of PCTInternational Application No. PCT/JP2004/004375 filed on Mar. 26, 2004under 35 U.S.C. § 371. The entire contents of each of theabove-identified applications are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a hazardous substance removing methodfor air purification and the like, a hazardous substance removingmaterial such as an air filter, a mask, a wiper sheet, and the like usedtherein, and a storage method thereof.

BACKGROUND ART

As methods for removing hazardous substances of microbe origin in theair such as viruses, bacteria, and the like, there are filtration usingvarious kinds of filters, physical adhesion using adsorbents, and thelike.

Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Publication No. 9-234317Adiscloses a virus removing filter using, as a virus-capturing body, atleast one kind of sialic acid, a sialic acid derivative, and sugars,glycoproteins, and glycolipids containing the sialic acid and/or thesialic acid derivative. The publication mentions that this filter can beused in ordinary living space and efficiently removes viruses such asinfluenza viruses.

Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Publication No. 2001-527166Adiscloses a fibrous material including a plurality of interwoven threadswith a high degree of microfibrillation wherein at least on thread isderivatised using cyanogen bromide to attach a natural receptor for avirus or a portion or an analogue thereof to capture a virus.

However, the methods for removing the hazardous substances in the airsuch as the filtration using a filter and the physical adhesion using anadsorbent are directed to capture of substances nonspecifically and havelow precision. Further, in order to avoid re-floating of removedhazardous substances and to prevent multiplication of the hazardoussubstances so as not to allow them to serve as a new contaminant source,techniques for sterilizing and deactivating the hazardous substancesmust be incorporated.

Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Publication No. 8-333271Adiscloses an antiviral mask composed of a nonwoven fabric with which atea extract is impregnated and ear stopper strings, wherein the nonwovenfabric with which the tea extract is impregnated is obtained in such amanner that the extract separated and refined from green tea componentsor black tea components is solved in purified water, is dehydratedlightly, and then, is dried. The publication mentions that this mask ofthe nonwoven fabric with which the tea extract is impregnate can beeasily produced industrially, can maintain high virus trappingperformance, can deactivate viruses, and can prevent re-entrainment ofthe viruses.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has its object of providing a novel hazardoussubstance removing method, a novel hazardous substance removing materialused therein such as an air filter, a mask, a wipe sheet, and the like,and a novel storage method thereof.

To attain the above object, the present invention removes a hazardoussubstance (20) by using an antibody (12).

Specifically, in a hazardous substance removing method of the presentinvention, for removing a hazardous substance (20) in a gas atmosphere,using a hazardous substance removing material (10) in which a support(11) supports an antibody (12), humidity of an ambient atmosphere of theantibody (12) is controlled so that the antibody (12) becomes active.

Because water is essential to activate the antibody (12), anantigen-antibody reaction has been employed only for purifying aqueoussolutions conventionally. By the above method, however, theantigen-antibody reaction can be applied to removal of the hazardoussubstance (20) in a gas phase atmosphere. Further, the antibody (12)captures a hazardous substance (20) specifically, and accordingly,appropriate selection of an antibody (12) attains highly precise removalin which a hazardous substance (20) to be captured is specified. Inaddition, some antibodies (12) themselves have a function of sterilizingand deactivating some kinds of hazardous substances (20). If theantibody (12) having a function of sterilizing and deactivating a targethazardous substance (20) is selected, it is unnecessary to incorporatethe techniques for sterilizing and deactivating the hazardous substance(20).

In the hazardous substance removing method of the present invention, thesupport (11) may be made of a humidity control material that controlshumidity of the ambient atmosphere of the antibody (12) so that theantibody (12) becomes active.

By the above method, the hazardous material (20) can be removed with thesingle use of the hazardous substance removing material (10).

A hazardous substance removing material (10) of the present invention,which is capable of being used in the hazardous substance removingmethod of the present invention, is composed of a support (11) thatsupports an antibody (12), wherein the support (11) is made of ahumidity control material that controls humidity of an ambientatmosphere of the antibody (12) so that the antibody (12) becomesactive.

With the above constitution, the antigen-antibody reaction can beapplied to the removal of the hazardous substance (20) in the gasatmosphere and appropriate selection of an antibody (12) attains highlyprecise removal in which a hazardous substance (20) to be captured isspecified. In addition, some antibodies (12) themselves have a functionof sterilizing and deactivating some kinds of hazardous substances (20).If an antibody (12) having a function of sterilizing and deactivating atarget hazardous substance (20) is selected, it is unnecessary toincorporate the techniques for sterilizing and deactivating thehazardous substance (20).

In the hazardous substance removing material (10) of the presentinvention, the antibody (12) is preferably chicken antibody (12).

The antibody (12) can be obtained by various methods. While, with theabove constitution, the method for obtaining the antibody (12) from achicken's egg attains easy mass production of the antibody (12),resulting in cost reduction of the hazardous substance removing material(10).

In the hazardous substance removing material (10) of the presentinvention, the support (11) is preferably subjected to antibacterialtreatment and/or antifungal treatment.

The antibody (12) is principally a protein, and particularly, thechicken antibody (12) is food, and the antibody (12) may accompany aprotein other than the antibody (12). These proteins might become thelure of multiplication of bacteria and mold (fungi). However, if thesupport (11) is subjected to antibacterial treatment and/or antifungaltreatment as above, multiplication of the bacteria and the fungi issuppressed, so that the hazardous substance removing material (10)becomes suitable for long-term storage.

In the hazardous substance removing material (10) of the presentinvention, the antibody (12) may captures at least one hazardoussubstance (20) selected from bacteria, fungi, viruses, and allergens.Specifically, the bacteria include, for example, Staphylococcus(Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and the like),Micrococcus, Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis,Propionibacterium acnes, and the like as Gram-positive bacteria, andPseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, Burkholderia cepacia,Streptococcus pneumoniae, Legionella pneumophilia, Mycobacteriumtuberculosis, and the like as Gram-negative bacteria. The fungi include,for example, Aspergillus, Penicillius, and Cladosporium. The virusesinclude influenza viruses, coronavirus (SARS virus), adenovirus, andrhinovirus. The allergens include pollens, mite allergens, and catallergens. The hazardous substance removing material (10) of the presentinvention cannot deactivate the bacteria and the fungi out of the abovesubstances, but exhibits a high adsorption effect to render thembacteriostatic while sterilizing and deactivating the viruses and theallergens.

In the hazardous substance removing material (10) of the presentinvention, the humidity control material forming the support (11) may bea fiber.

In this case, the fiber forming the support (11) may have an officialmoisture regain of 7% or higher in the hazardous substance removingmaterial (10).

Water is essential to activate the antibody (12). With the aboveconstitution, the fiber keeps much moisture, so that the humidity of theambient atmosphere of the antibody (12) can be increased sufficientlyfor activating the antibody (12).

In the hazardous substance removing material (10) of the presentinvention, the antibody (12) may have an Fe (12 b) that is bonded withthe support (11).

With the above construction, the Fabs (12 a) that capture the hazardoussubstance (20) are arranged outwards from the support (11) to increasecontact probability of the hazardous substance (20) to the Fabs (12 a),enabling efficient capturing of the hazardous substance (20).

In the hazardous substance removing material (10) of the presentinvention, the antibody (12) may be supported on the support (11)through a linker.

With the above construction, the degree of freedom of the antibody (12)on the support (11) becomes high to allow the antibody (12) to easilyapproach to the hazardous substance (20). Hence, removal performance isenhanced.

In the hazardous substance removing material (10) of the presentinvention, an indicator may be provided which detects an activity degreeof the antibody (12) and outputs a signal when a detected activitydegree becomes lower than a predetermined activity degree.

With the above constitution, whether the hazardous substance removingmaterial (10) can be used and whether it should be replaced can berecognized.

In this case, the indicator may change in color when a detected activitydegree becomes lower than the predetermined activity degree in thehazardous substance removing material (10).

With the above constitution, whether the hazardous substance removingmaterial (10) can be used and whether it should be replaced can bejudged at a glance.

In the hazardous material removing material (10) of the presentinvention, the antibody (12) lowers in its activity degree due to theexistence of moisture.

Therefore, in the case of storing the hazardous substance removingmaterial (10) of the present invention in a dry condition, in order tomaintain the effect of the antibody (12), the hazardous substanceremoving material (10) is preferably stored hermetically in anatmosphere for storage at a temperature in a range between 18 and 25° C.and at a humidity of 40% or lower.

Alternatively, in the case of storing a hazardous substance removingmaterial (10) in a wet condition, in order to maintain the effect of theantibody (12), it is preferable that a fiber is used as a humiditycontrol material of the support (11) and water containing an activationstabilizer for the antibody (12) is penetrated in the fiber as thehumidity control material. The activation stabilizer includes glycerol(glycerin), for example.

The hazardous substance removing material (10) of the present inventioncan be used directly as an air filter (10) and a wipe sheet (10).

Also, a mask (30) provided with the hazardous substance removingmaterial (10) can be proposed.

In the case of the mask (30), it is preferable that the hazardoussubstance removing material (10) is interposed between a pair of airpermeable outer and inner cloths (33, 34) and the air permeable innercloth (33) has higher air permeability than the air permeable outercloth (34).

With the above constitution, the air permeable inner cloth (33) hashigher air permeability than the air permeable outer cloth (34), so thatmoisture included in human breath easily contacts with the hazardoussubstance removing material (10), accelerating activation of theantibody (12).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing an air filter (10) according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing a mask (30) according to theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the mask (30) according to the embodiment ofthe present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below indetail.

FIG. 1 shows a hazardous substance removing material (10) according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

The hazardous substance removing material (10) is composed of a support(11) and an antibody (12) supported by the support (10).

The support (11) is made of a humidity control material that controlshumidity of the ambient atmosphere of the antibody (12) so that theantibody (12) becomes active. Fibers may be used as the humidity controlmaterial, for example, and the support (11) may be composed of a wovenfabric, a nonwoven fabric, or the like. In the case where a fibercomposes the support (11), a large moisture content of the fiber isdesired for adjusting the humidity of the ambient atmosphere of theantibody (12) so that the antibody (12) becomes active. Accordingly, thesupport (11) is preferably made of a fiber having an official moistureregain of 7.0% or higher, more preferably having an official moistureregain of 9.0% or higher, and the most preferably having an officialmoisture regain of 20% or higher. Wherein, the official moisture regainmeans a moisture percentage of a water-containing fiber which has beenleft for a long period of time in an atmosphere at 20° C. and at 65% RH(RH is relative humidity). Specifically, the official moisture regainsof polyester and nylon as synthetic fibers, cotton, silk, and wool as anatural fibers, and rayon as a regenerated fiber are 0.3%, 3.5%, 7.0%,9.0%, 16.0%, and 12.0%, respectively. In general, natural fibers andregenerated fibers have high official moisture regains while syntheticfibers have low official moisture regains. Wherein, synthetic fibershaving special structures have 20% or higher official moisture regains

The antibody (12) is a protein reactive (antigen-antibody reaction)specifically to a specified hazardous substance (antigen) (20), has amolecule size of 7 to 8 nm, and is in a Y-shaped molecular form. A pairof branch portions and a stem portion of the antibody (12) in theY-shaped molecular form are called Fabs (12 a) and Fc (12 b), and theFabs (12 b) capture the hazardous substance (20).

A kind of the antibody (12) is determined so as to correspond to thekind of the hazardous substance (20) to be captured. The hazardoussubstance (20) to be captured by the antibody (12) includes bacteria,fungi, viruses, allergens, and Mycoplasmas. Specifically, the bacteriainclude, for example, Staphylococcus (Staphylococcus aureus,Staphylococcus epidermidis, and the like), Micrococcus, Bacillusanthracis, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Propionibacterium acnes,and the like as Gram-positive bacteria, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Serratia marcescens, Burkholderia cepacia, Streptococcus pneumoniae,Legionella pneumophilia, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and the like asGram-negative bacteria. The fungi include, for example, yeasts,Aspergillus, Penicillius, and Cladosporium. The viruses includeinfluenza viruses, coronavirus (SARS virus), adenovirus, and rhinovirus.The allergens include pollens, mite allergens (mite decomposingproducts) and cat allergens (pet's dandruff). The antibody (12) cannotdeactivate the bacteria and the fungi out of the above substances, butexhibits a high adsorption effect to render them bacteriostatic whilesterilizing and deactivating the viruses and the allergens.

Referring to methods for producing the antibody (12), there are methodsof: a method in which an antigen is administered to an animal such as agoat, a horse, a sheep, a rabbit, and the like and a polyclonal antibody(12) is refined from the blood thereof; a method in which spleen cellsof an animal to which an antigen is administered and cultured cancercells are subjected to cell fusion and a monoclonal antibody (12) isrefined from a culture medium thereof or from a humor (ascites) of ananimal in which the fussed cells are implanted; a method in which anantibody (12) is refined from a culture medium of genetically modifiedbacteria, plant cells, or animal cells to which antibody producing geneis introduced; and a method in which a chicken to which an antigen isadministered is allowed to lay an immune egg and a chicken antibody (12)is refined from yolk powder obtained by sterilizing and splay-drying theyolk of the immune egg. Of all the above methods, the method forobtaining the antibody (12) from a chicken antibody enables easy massproduction of the antibody (12), reducing the cost of the hazardoussubstance removing material (10).

It is preferable that the support (11) is subjected to antibacterialtreatment such as coating of an agent containing an antibacterial agentand/or antifungal treatment such as coating of an agent containing anantifungal agent. The antibody (12) is principally a protein, andparticularly, the chicken antibody (12) is food, and the antibody (12)may accompany a protein other than the antibody (12). These proteinsmight become the lure of multiplication of bacteria and fungi. However,if the support (11) is subjected to antibacterial and/or antifungaltreatment, multiplication of the bacteria and the fungi is suppressed,so that the hazardous substance removing material (10) becomes suitablefor long-term storage. The antibacterial/antifungal agents includeorganic silicon quaternary ammonium salts, organic quaternary ammoniumsalts, biguanides, polyphenols, chitosan, silver-support colloidalsilica, zeolite-support silvers, and the like. As the treatments usingthem, there are a post-treatment in which an antibacterial/antifungalagent is immersed in or applied to the support (11) made of a fiber, araw thread/raw cotton improving method in which anantibacterial/antifungal agent is mulled in the step of synthesizing afiber composing the support (11), and the like.

Referring to methods for fixing the antibody (12) to the support (11),there are methods of: a method in which after a support (11) issubjected to silane treatment by γ-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane or thelike, an aldehyde group is introduced on the surface of the support (11)by glutaraldehyde or the like to allow the aldehyde group and anantibody (12) to be in covalent bond; a method in which an untreatedsupport (11) is immersed into an aqueous solution of an antibody (12) tocause ion boding, thereby fixing the antibody (12) to the support (11);a method in which an aldehyde group is introduced to a support (11)having a specified functional group to cause covalent bond between thealdehyde group and an antibody (12); a method in which a support (11)having a specified functional group is ion-bonded to an antibody (12);and a method in which a polymer having a specified functional group iscoated on a support (11) and an aldehyde group is introduced to causecovalent bond between the aldehyde group and an antibody (12). Herein,the specified functional group includes the NHR group (R is an alkylgroup of any of methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butyl except H), the NH₂group, the C₆H₅NH₂ group, the CHO group, the COOH group, and the OHgroup.

Further, there is a method in which a functional group on the surface ofa support (11) is changed into another functional group using BMPA(N-β-Meleimidopropionic acid) or the like to cause covalent bond betweenthe thus changed functional group and an antibody (12) (the SH group ischanged into the COOH group by BMPA).

Moreover, another method may be employed in which a molecule (Fereceptor, protein AIG, and the like) which is selectively bonded to theFe (12 b) of an antibody (12) is introduced on the surface of a support(11) to cause it to be bonded to the Fe (12 b) of the antibody (12). Inthis case, the Fabs (12 a) for capturing a hazardous substance (20) arearranged outwards from the support (11) to cause increase in contactpossibility of the hazardous substance (20) to the Fabs (12 a),resulting in efficient capturing of the hazardous substance (20).

The antibody (12) may be supported on the support (11) through a linker.In so doing, the degree of freedom of the antibody (12) on the support(11) increases, so that the antibody (12) is easy to reach the hazardoussubstance (20), attaining high removal performance. Bivalent ormultivalent crosslinking reagent may be used as the linker.Specifically, there are listed maleimide, NHS (N-Hydroxysuccinimidyl)ester, imide ester, EDC (1-Ethyl-3-[3-dimetylaminopropyl]carbodiimido),PMPI (N-[p-Maleimidophenyl] isocyanete), which are selectively ornon-selectively bonded to a target functional group (the SH group, theNH₂ group, the COOH group, and the OH group). Further, crosslinkingagents have different crosslinking distances (spacer arm), andtherefore, the distance can be selected within the range between about0.1 nm and about 3.5 nm according to the target antibody (12). In viewof efficient capturing of the hazardous substance (20), it is preferableto select a linker that will be bonded to the Fc (12 b) of the antibody(12).

Referring to linker introduction, either of a method in which anantibody (12) bonded with a linker is further bonded to a support (11 b)and a method in which an antibody (12) is bonded with a linker bonded toa support (11) are available.

The support (11) may support an indicator for detecting the activitydegree of the antibody (12) and outputting a signal when the detectedrate becomes lower than a predetermined activity degree. If such anindicator is supported, whether the hazardous substance removingmaterial (10) can be used and should be replaced can be recognized.Especially, if a color of the indicator changes when the detected rateof the antibody (12) becomes lower than the predetermined activitydegree, such judgments can be done at a glance. As the indicator, apolydiacetylene film can be employed which causes color change byoperation such as pH change, temperature increase, dynamic stress, andthe like.

Applied examples of the hazardous substance removing material (10) willbe described below.

APPLIED EXAMPLE 1

The aforementioned hazardous substance removing material (10) may beused as an air filter (10) for an air conditioner and an airpurification system.

With the air filter (10), the support (11) controls the humidity of theambient atmosphere of the antibody (12) so that the antibody (12)becomes active, enabling application of the antigen-antibody reaction toair purification and contemplation of air purification with the singleuse of the air filter (10).

Further, the antibody (12) captures a hazardous substance (20)specifically, and therefore, highly precise air purification in which ahazardous substance (20) to be captured is specified can be performed byappropriate selection of the antibody (12).

Further, some kinds of antibodies (12) have a function of sterilizingand deactivating some kinds of hazardous substances (20), and therefore,it is unnecessary to combine the techniques for sterilizing anddeactivating a target hazardous substance (20) if the antibody (12) hassuch the function to the target hazardous substance (20).

It is noted that the present invention may be applied to, rather than tothe air filter (10) using the support (11) as the humidity controlmaterial, a combination of an air filter in which the support (11) madeof a material other than a humidity control material supports theantibody (12) with a humidifier or a humidifying function of an airconditioner, whereby the humidity of the ambient atmosphere of theantibody (12) is controlled so that the antibody (12) becomes active.

APPLIED EXAMPLE 2

The aforementioned hazardous substance removing material (10) can beused as a mask (30).

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show the mask (30) according to the embodiment of thepresent invention.

The mask (30) includes a rectangular mask body (31) and ear stopperstrings (32) that connect paired ends of the minor sides of the maskbody (31).

The mask body (31) is composed of an air permeable outer cloth (33) inwhich gauze woven fabrics are piled, a net-like air permeable innercloth (34) forming a pocket inside the air permeable outer cloth (33),and the hazardous substance removing material (10) arranged inside thepocket.

In the mask (30), when the ability of the antibody (12) to remove thehazardous substance (20) becomes low, it can be increased only byreplacing the hazardous substance removing material (10). The activationof the antibody (12) lowers in the existence of moisture, and therefore,the hazardous substance removing material (10) for replacement must bestored in a dry condition. For long-term maintenance of the effect ofthe antibody (12), it is preferable to hermetically store the hazardoussubstance removing material (10) in an atmosphere for storage at atemperature in the range between 18 and 25° C. and at a humidity of 40%or lower. Further, for suppressing bacteria multiplication, it ispreferable to use an oxygen absorbent in combination or to performpurging by an inert gas or a nitrogen gas.

With the use of the mask (30), the antigen-antibody reaction can beapplied to air purification in a gas atmosphere and highly precise,peculiar air purification in which a hazardous substance (20) to becaptured is specified can be performed by appropriate selection of theantibody (12). Some kinds of antibodies (12) have a function ofsterilizing and deactivating some kinds of hazardous substances (20),and therefore, it is unnecessary to combine the techniques forsterilizing and deactivating a target hazardous substance (20) if theantibody (12) has such the function to the target hazardous substance(20).

Moreover, the hazardous substance removing material (10) is interposedbetween the air permeable outer and inner cloths (33, 34) and the airpermeable inner cloth (33) has higher air permeability than the airpermeable outer cloth (34), resulting in easy contact of moisturecontained in human breath to the hazardous substance removing material(10) to lead to acceleration of activation of the antibody (12).

It is noted that the hazardous substance removing material (10) isreplaceable in the mask (30) in the above example, but the mask bodyitself may be composed of the hazardous substance removing material (10)replaceable as needed.

APPLIED EXAMPLE 3

The aforementioned hazardous substance removing material (10) may beused as a wipe sheet (10) in which the support (11) is in a sheet form.

The wipe sheet (10) may be stored in a dry condition as well as in thecase of the replaceable hazardous substance removing material (10) ofthe aforementioned mask (30), or may be stored in a wet condition. Theactivation of the antibody (12) lowers in the existence of moisture.Therefore, for long-term maintenance of the effect of the antibody (12),the wipe sheet (10) to be stored in a wet condition is preferably storedin conditions that the humidity control material as the support (11) ismade of a fiber and water containing an activation stabilizer for theantibody (12), such as glycerol, is penetrated in the fiber as thehumidity control material.

With the wipe sheet (10), the antigen-antibody reaction can be appliedto removal of the hazardous substance (20) in a gas atmosphere.

Further, highly precise, peculiar air purification in which a hazardoussubstance (20) to be captured is specified can be performed byappropriate selection of the antibody (12).

Moreover, some kinds of antibodies (12) have a function of sterilizingand deactivating some kinds of hazardous substances (20), and therefore,it is unnecessary to combine the techniques for sterilizing anddeactivating a target hazardous substance (20) if the antibody (12) hassuch the function to the target hazardous substance (20).

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention is useful for a hazardous substance removingmethod such as air purification, a hazardous substance removing material(10) used therein such as an air filter (10), a mask (30), a wipe sheet(10), and the like, and a storage method thereof.

1. A hazardous substance removing method for removing a hazardoussubstance in a gas atmosphere, using a hazardous substance removingmaterial in which a support supports an antibody, wherein humidity of anambient atmosphere of the antibody is controlled so that the antibodybecomes active; the support is made of a humidity control material thatcontrols humidity of the ambient atmosphere of the antibody so that theantibody becomes active; the humidity control material forming thesupport is a fiber; and the fiber forming the support has an officialmoisture regain of 7% or higher.